Balzac's Realist Literary Views Reflected and Embodied in Lu Xun's The True Story of Ah Q

Faculty of Literature and Media, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510450, China

^* Corresponding author: tongliping927@tzc.edu.cn

Abstract

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Eastern and Western literature began to gradually converge. Western realist literary theories from the 19th-century European realist movement, represented by Balzac, had a profound impact on modern Chinese literature. This influence is especially evident in the creation of novels. The True Story of Ah Q is a notable example of this influence. This study mainly focuses on exploring the spirit of realism and the typical meaning of Q and other typical literary images in The True Story of Ah Q, i.e. selecting the two most representative ideas in Balzac's realism theory and analysing their realistic reflection in The True Story of Ah Q about the content of specific works. It is found that some of the core concepts of Balzac's realist literary theory are exhibited in Mr. Lu Xun's masterpiece, The True Story of Ah Q.